Need a Good Hand Pump, Quick!

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Hurricane Irene left me a 6 inches of water in my basement and no power. Anyone got a recommendation on a good hand-pump? The only thing I found on Amazon seems to be a piece of junk. I thought about a bilge pump for a boat but I need to run the water about 20 feet out the door.

dbestpump.com has something you may be interested in. it retails for around $150 on the net, which is expensive until you see it moving water on their site and on youtube. the best feature is that it can be used manually or with a battery powered drill.

I agree about the gas powered pump as much as it pains me to say so. Twenty feet is as good as a mile for pumping distance. You can start by using a bilge pump to a container (the container of a wet/dry vacuum is a good choice, another being the drain pail for a dehumidifier) that is high enough to drain via gravity though a hose to the outside. Attach a hose to the container's outlet and run it outside. Pump the short distance into the container and the hose will discharge outside.

Another option, if you have running water, is to get a water-powered pump. There are pumps that use municipal water pressure to pull water out of a sump. The only problem is that you will have a lot of water coming out of your hose, which could make area flooding worse.

For about $27, including shipping, the “Improvements” company will send you its “Water Siphon Pump.” It has a 4.6 rating on nine reviews. I have one on order.

It takes garden hoses at both ends. It can be used as a hand pump alone (lots of work, the seller implies), or to start a siphon going through it. If a location below the bottom of the basement can be found, like the bottom of a storm drain, and if enough hose can be hooked together to reach it, siphoning ought to work. Here’s the link:

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